Many NASCAR drivers were not happy with the quality of racing at show at the playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday.
The first race of the Round of 8 not only had the drivers in playoffs fighting to get points and the win but also non-playoff drivers driving aggressively which affected the playoff drivers.
One of the drivers who had issues with this was Martin Truex Jr who came in contact with Daniel Suazez thereby ending the race for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. From being six points above the cutline before the race, Truex now finds himself 22 points below.
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After the race, Kyle Busch was asked about the aggression shown by the non-playoffs drivers to which he replied:”
“There’s a complete lack of respect everywhere all over the place,” said Busch. “So it doesn’t matter if it’s a playoff driver or a non-playoff driver. The way all this has gone on the last four or five years, with a newer generation coming in, has completely ruined it from what it used to be. Now it might be exciting for the fans, but all you get is more torn-up stuff. And next year, these car owners are not going to enjoy paying the bills on that new car. I guarantee it.”
He was not the only driver to have issue with it as Denny Hamlin agreed that drivers are doing what they want but didn’t point fingers at the drivers for the nature of the race.
“I would agree a little bit,” Hamlin said. “But everyone’s got their own agenda; nobody really gives a **** about who’s doing what. They just care about themselves. It’s just different now than it used to be.”
“I don’t necessarily fault anyone for it,” Hamlin added. “I mean, that’s why I don’t really condone it, right? I don’t like it, but it doesn’t mean it’s right or wrong. Everyone’s got their own, you know, some of the guys that I thought were kind of raced interestingly, maybe they’re in their seat next year, maybe they’re not. They’re all racing for something. So I don’t fault anyone really.”
While every non-playoffs drivers surely would like to get a win before the season ends, but since they cannot win the championship, the playoff drivers have to bear the cost, in losing points and even getting eliminated from the playoffs.
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